Monday, January 11, 2010

Day 146: 126 days later


I finished a pair of Sissoo bowls tonight.  This was wood from a tree blown over in a storm at Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  In exchange for the wood I promised to donate a couple of finished pieces back to them.   These pieces were roughed out way back on day 20.  http://agoodturndaily.blogspot.com/2009/09/day-20-float-like-butterfly.html  The 3rd and smallest piece developed a deep crack and broke in half.






Sissoo, also called Indian Rosewood, is now a fairly common tree in the Phoenix area.  They're planted as a landscape tree because of their fast growth and minimal water needs.











Bottom view.  I prefer the color of the heartwood in these pieces but the contrast between the heartwood and the sapwood is very dramatic.











Song of the night:
Radiohead, Karma Police

2 comments:

  1. The bowls look great. What did you finish them with? How do you hold them to turn the bottoms?

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  2. Jeff, I have a 5 gallon bucket of Danish Oil (Watco I think). They're held on the lathe with a vacuum chuck. I have a vacuum pump that creates negative pressure through the spindle and a vacuum drum I made out of a PVC pipe coupler, some scrap wood, and a sheet of closed cell foam. The vacuum applies up to 12 PSI to the vacuum drum which has a surface area of about 7 square inches. That's where the 80 pound figure comes from, 7 square inches @ 12 PSI. Once you have one you'll wonder how you ever lived without one.

    You're welcome to come check it out or I can send you the document I used when I put mine together.

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